In response to a budget deficit, the Brooklyn Museum is dropping its long-running pay-what-you-wish policy in favor of a new program called “Pay What We Wish.”
Beginning today, April 1, front desk staff will be asked to evaluate visitors’ apparel, accessories, and “general vibe” to determine how much they should pay for admission, according to an all-staff email from senior leadership reviewed by Hyperallergic.
Anonymous sources at the Brooklyn Museum confirmed that front-of-house staffers have received training to size up the prices of visitors’ shoes, including how to differentiate counterfeits from authentic designer pieces.
“They used to teach us about collection highlights and the history of the museum,” one worker told Hyperallergic. “Now they’re teaching us the difference between Birkin bags and Kelly bags.”
“The union’s refusal to cooperate in negotiations has regretfully made offloading our problems onto everyday New Yorkers unavoidable,” Brooklyn Museum Director Anne Pasternak said in a statement.
The museum has not responded to Hyperallergic’s request for comment about whether the institution’s financial burden ought to shift to senior staff, whose recent decisions, including the launching of a new brand identity, renovation of its restaurant, and costly events and exhibitions celebrating the institution’s 200th anniversary, may have contributed to the deficit.
The first day of the new policy today resulted in mixed reactions from the public.
“You know how in galleries, the girls at the front do the up-down at you?” one visitor said. “It’s kind of like that, but worse.”
“I got charged $25,” another said. “I can’t tell if that’s good or bad? I’m feeling really self-conscious.”
“Hell no,” one interviewee wearing a Supreme x Louis Vuitton jacket, Chrome Hearts Levis, and Balenciaga Triple S sneakers told Hyperallergic. “I ain’t paying $2,000 to see a KAWS, or whatever they’re doing in there. Nope.”
And yet, there are also those upset about not being charged enough. A now-viral TikTok by a fashion influencer decries “being offered free admission” by the Brooklyn Museum’s “tasteless” staff despite wearing a “$9,000 dress.”
A staff member added on the condition of anonymity that the museum has also stocked the admissions desk with a binder of the names and faces of those to be admitted for free. Possibly related to an exhibition currently in the planning stages that somehow synthesizes Turkish culture, Tesla cybertrucks, cryptocurrency, and “Purdue Pharma’s ongoing commitment to the health of the American people,” these free-admission figures include Eric Adams, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Kathe and David Sackler.
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